Delaware's culture is a large part of who we are. Our art, food, architecture, etc. is what separates us from the rest of the colonies,
Types of houses used by the colonists are dictated by wealth and the availability of natural resources to use as materials. When Delaware was first founded, timber was in ready supply and simple log cabins were built. The houses that we now live in are made mainly out of wood and mud. These houses often don't have any windows and if they do they can be considerably small.The middle colony often builds farmhouses as shown below.
Colonists usually build log fences around their houses, as shown below.
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The image above is a line engraving of William Penn by John Hall, Pierre Eugene Du Simitiere, and Sylvanus Bevan. William Penn is governor of Pennsylvania, wich ruled over Delaware for some time.
Many pieces of art in this time period consist of portraits of important figures, creating history everyday. Most pieces of art in the colonies include portraits of the rich because often only the rich can afford these portraits.
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While men are working out in the fields, women usually take up needlework as a craft skill. In the image above, a women is shown sowing a design. In poor households in Delaware, women typically sow clothes for the family.
The needlework above is done by Margaret Roome from New York, another middle colony in the same region, similar to Delaware.
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The type of clothing in the Middle colonies relies on the status and religion of the colonists in the colony. The upper class usually wears fine materials, dress and ornaments. Most people wear clothes of cotton or linen. Puritans wear the simplest types of clothing. Poor people cheap 'homespun' garments usually made by the women in the household. The people that were considered to be in the in the gentry class could afford imported materials for better clothes. The clothes worn can be dyed with different kinds of things such as roots, berries, and so on. |